


No Returns

by GalaxyAqua



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Supermarket, Food, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-22
Updated: 2016-02-22
Packaged: 2018-05-22 14:51:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6083715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GalaxyAqua/pseuds/GalaxyAqua
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kageyama Tobio, grade A employee at the seafood section of the supermarket, really cannot complain. His job is relatively easy, his hours bearable, nobody bothers him while he's working - actually, no wait, scratch that last one. There is this one guy. There’s this one customer that is here to ruin everything. His name is Hinata Shouyou and he's an actual menace.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Returns

**Author's Note:**

> supermarket au?? no???? 
> 
> also if there are any inconsistencies, please help, this is kinda cliché though ngl

It’s slow. It’s boring. It’s exactly what he signed up for.

Yes, Kageyama Tobio, grade A employee at the seafood section of the supermarket, really cannot complain. At least, he can’t complain without the risk of losing his job, and, for the record, that’s something that would be very, very bad.

So any and all complaints have to be filed deep down, never to see the light of day. He’s got to keep that in-between smile on his face for hours on end (in-between being that not-quite smile not-quite frown, so he doesn’t quote unquote “scare the customers away”), and he’s got to knuckle up and just do his damn job.

If only it were that easy.  

* * *

 There’s this one – this _one_ certified asshole, good grief – customer that is here to ruin everything.

It had started with just being a nuisance, wherein this particular young man had been seen shopping casually with his younger sister (assumed from their shared possession of bright orange hair), up until he had spotted a shopping trolley and had decided riding around in it was the best possible option. And when Kageyama said they were _riding around_ , he meant they were in the aisles up and down, left and right, flying as if a dragon was on their tails.  

The little girl, seated in the trolley as her brother zoomed around like a maniac, only laughed when Kageyama tried to politely tell them to stop.  

He had shrugged it off as a one-time thing back then, when he’d watch distastefully as the siblings skipped out of the supermarket hauling their purchases, but boy, was he wrong.

That young man’s name was Hinata Shouyou, and Hinata was going to be an actual menace.

He’s back every Saturday, sometimes Sunday depending on his schedule, but Hinata returns to the supermarket even more annoying alone than he was with his sister beforehand.

Kageyama looks at him, recognizes him, and then begs to all that is good and holy that Hinata will behave for once, and that Kageyama won’t have to yell at him and put his position and vocal chords at risk. Unfortunately, knowing the pain in the neck, and knowing how much Hinata must hate him for some bizarre unknown reason, Kageyama also knows that this is unavoidable.

They clash like oil and water, Hinata often with the argument that “customers have the right to do what they want as long as it’s not hurting anybody” and Kageyama with the refuting “customers should do what customers come here to do, buy their stuff and leave”, but there’s a thrill in the fight that almost makes dealing with the dumbass worthwhile.

However, Kageyama still just wants to do his job, and Hinata still seems intent on ruining his peace, so they are not going to get along.

In fact, Hinata Shouyou’s only saving grace is that he’s sort-of cute (of course it is, why the hell would it be anything else, why is the world so unfair) so Kageyama’s manager Sugawara too-good-for-this-world Koushi often just lets him go. He lets Hinata go with that innocent-looking smile of his, commenting lightly that “it’s nice that he’s having fun buying groceries every weekend”.

But Hinata’s twinkling golden eyes spell e-v-i-l the moment he looks in Kageyama’s direction and grins.

* * *

 

Logically speaking, he should be thankful that the thorn in his side only occurs once a week, but Kageyama is illogically salty and unfortunately not thankful at all. He still does his job, and he does it well, because he has to. But even if he can’t complain, he can still grumble, and if he can grumble, then he can hold a grudge against a customer. There’s no rule that says he can’t.

To make matters worse, even though he doesn’t let it happen willingly, Hinata’s weekend visits somehow become routine.

It’s hard to miss the shock of bright orange hair every time the guy bounces into the store, and it’s even harder to miss the ill intent (or what looks like ill intent) behind his imploring gaze, and inability to stand still. Maybe that’s just Kageyama’s paranoia talking, but he’s about 60% sure that Hinata’s out to get him.

“Kageyama,” he would learn to greet, fists raised as if poised for battle. “What’s with that scary expression?”

“I was born with this face!” Kageyama would learn to protest, stuffing his hands into his apron. “Now, what do you want? I haven’t got all day.”

And if that is the equivalent to their ‘hellos’, then their ‘goodbyes’ run along the lines of:

“Get lost, dumbass Hinata.”

“Ah, ah,” Hinata would wave, all the while shaking his head. “How do you treat a customer again?”

“Have a nice day.” Kageyama would say through gritted teeth.

“That’s what I thought.” The darn customer would giggle. But then some foreign emotion would cross his face, and a soft smile would play across his lips. “You too.” He’d sing. “Have a nice day.”

* * *

 The routine is broken when Hinata suddenly visits on a Wednesday, and Kageyama doesn’t know if he’s angry at the fact or just really tired. It hasn’t been the greatest day, for a variety of reasons, and he just wants to go home in one piece – without having to deal with any more stress and trouble.

Stress and trouble that would inevitably come the moment this fiery regular set his eyes on him.

However, Hinata, probably sensing his bad mood from a mile away, actually goes easy on him on this particular day, and instead of causing problems, he goes about his business in relative quiet, humming a popular tune under his breath.

For whatever reason, there’s not much demand for seafood on Wednesday afternoons, so Suga sets Kageyama on the section of canned fruit; coincidentally what Hinata had come into the store looking for.

He’s got the peaches and the pineapples mixed up when the redhead intervenes, saying, “You’re doing it wrong, you moron, who’s the one that works here again?”

“This isn’t my section,” Kageyama argues weakly, putting the cans back into the box they came, and starting over again. It’s been a really long day.  

“I’ll help,” Hinata offers, getting on his knees and starting to put them in the right place. He grins, when he adds, “Since clearly you’re out of your element.”

“Shut up, dumbass,” the employee grumbles, tossing a can towards him anyway. “I’m trying.”  

“I know,” the other catches the can perfectly, slotting it into the shelf with surprising skill. “You gotta be way faster though, or you’ll be here all day!”

“Is that a challenge?”

“Hell yeah it is. Do you like ice cream?”

Kageyama blinks, confused. “… I guess?”

“Then whoever stacks a full shelf first has to buy the loser ice cream!”

Wordlessly, Kageyama shoves the rest of the box towards him and starts on the upper shelf. It is _so_ on.

The shelves fill with alarming speed, as if the thought of competition could spur them both to do it faster, heartbeat thudding in their ears and the odd thought that _this is a pretty stupid race to compete in_ but neither of them backing down anyway.

Kageyama is almost there when Hinata cries, “Done!” And beams up at him, triumph glittering in his gaze, lashes fanning as he claps, “Victory! You owe me ice cream for doing your job for you!”  

The raven-haired scowls, not at having lost, but at the prospect of having to do anything for Hinata. “I demand a rematch,” he growls, arm indicating to the cart behind him.

“You sure you want to try and beat me?” Hinata looks smug at that moment, before Kageyama glares and he flinches away. “Alright, double time, let’s do this!”

And they’re off again. And again. And again. In fact, they have so much fun (if that was what it was… Kageyama will always deny that he found that activity satisfying) stacking the shelves that the moment Suga pops by to check on Kageyama, Hinata is running towards him going, “I’m here to do free labor because Kageyama owes me ice cream! Tell me if you need any help with shelving, and we’re on it!”

To his credit, Suga only smiles, and replies, “That’s alright, but thank you for helping out. I was just about to tell Kageyama that I’m letting him off early today, so you two go and enjoy yourselves, alright?”

Hinata nods enthusiastically – grinning big and thanking Suga with a bow – before grabbing Kageyama by the wrist and dragging him towards the staff room. “Come on, get changed!” He laughs, “You have to treat me! Loser’s honor!”

“A loser isn’t supposed to have any honor, idiot…”

“A loser will always have honor!” Hinata’s smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes, but his expression is otherwise open. “Because when you lose, you don’t forget it! You need to use that loss to make you stronger!”

Stunned by the oddly insightful answer, Kageyama only nods, allowing himself to be hauled into the staff room (the one with a bold ‘staff-only’ sign tacked to the door, by the way, for all the Hinatas that decide to conveniently ignore it), and moves to get out of his uniform and into his casual attire.

While he’s changing – something he’s become especially adept at, due to years of speedy locker room changes back in high school and now in college while he still played volleyball – Hinata picks around the staff room, examining everything with the curiosity of a small child.  

“Hey,” he calls out after he's done, and the redhead jumps, almost knocking the toaster off the bench. “Let’s go. Where are we headed?”

“That was _fast_ ,” Hinata whistles, leaping over to join him on the way out. “And you look like a completely different person!”

Kageyama considers his lazy black hoodie and jeans, and wonders how it makes him look any different. He shrugs, “Got used to changing quickly because I always wanted to be the first on the court.”

“Court?” Hinata’s eyes spark with sudden interest. “What do you play?”

“Volleyball.”

“No way! Me too!”

Oh. Kageyama did not see that one coming. He suddenly has newfound respect for the other, the remnants of his bad mood vanishing at the mention of his favorite sport.

“What position?”

Hinata’s eyes narrow ever so slightly, probably assuming he would be made fun of due to his height as he declares, “Middle blocker.”

Kageyama, really not into the whole ‘judge talent on physical appearance’, only shrugs again. “I’m a setter.”

“Oh my god, toss to me! Toss to me!” Hinata practically shrieks in excitement, tugging on his sleeve.

“Now?”

“Yes, now! Well, soon! We get ice cream, then play? What do you think?”

He's excited at the prospect himself, though he strains not to show it, already prepared for the moment Hinata finds him boring and rejects him. “I don’t have anything better to do, so…”  

“So it’s settled! Let’s go!” Just like that, the redhead takes the lead once more, prattling off the name of a nearby ice cream parlor before cheering, “Race you there!”

And by the time they get there, they’re both panting and sweating and smiling and it feels like they’ve been doing this their entire lives. Kageyama wins this time, happy to gloat about it in his own way as Hinata sulks, but something about their dynamic seems so inherently natural, he almost has to wonder if this was meant to be. Their rivalry, he means. He’s never had a rival quite like Hinata, after all.   

It seems – despite his hidden complaints and frustrations – that Kageyama has come to realize something.

The problem with Hinata Shouyou is that most of the time, he _isn’t_ hell-bent on making his life difficult, he just does it anyway. It’s like breathing to him, and Kageyama kind of hates it. He hates that he can let this guy get under his skin so easily, he hates that there is a human being in this great wide world that can disrupt his concentration with an airy laugh or a mere, outspoken observation.

But what he hates most of all, is that Hinata doesn’t hate him, like he had thought from the beginning. In fact, maybe all his first impressions had been wrong. Maybe he had been looking at the whole situation wrong.

And so, he begins to rethink.

* * *

 Kageyama’s in the midst of teaching their newest recruit the basics of cleaning a fish when Hinata swings by again. Yamaguchi drops the fish the moment Hinata yells “Good morning!” at the top of his lungs, and, as per usual, Kageyama can only glare at the customer as he quietly informs his trainee that they can just pick the fish up and clean it again, no problem.   

“What do you want?” He asks Hinata, whilst the young man is perusing the seafood display through the glass. He’s a little fidgety, pulling at the strings of his yellow hoodie, but other than that, quite normal. His eyes linger on the large, shiny conch shell that hadn’t been there the week before. Suga had given it to Kageyama to use as decoration. He had told him that Hinata was probably going to be the first to notice it. As with a lot of things, it appears that Suga is right.

“Well?” The employee goads impatiently, “Are you going to ask for anything?”

“Can I buy like, an entire shark?” Hinata then inquires, expression practically shimmering with amusement. Yamaguchi makes a distressed noise from behind him, and Kageyama, ever incapable of multi-tasking, turns around to right him while trying to figure out a suitable response to the customer’s question.

“Sorry,” Kageyama replies with that awkward stiffness reserved for when he’s trying to be polite. He shouldn’t have bothered. Hinata only laughs when he does it anyway. He gives the customer a long look. “We don’t sell those here.”

“An entire squid, then?”

Just innocently doing his job, Kageyama gestures to the white speckled blob on the side, nestled between crab legs and sea urchins. “How much would you like?”

“Ew, you can actually buy those?!” Hinata scrunches his nose, recoiling. “That’s gross.”

“Don’t insult the squid! It’s a tried delicacy around here!”

“Have you tried it?”

“Yes,” he pushes back his hair with the back of his hand, mentally noting he’d have to get a haircut soon. “Now did you come here to get something or waste time?”

“Oh, no, I’m getting something, really, I am,” Hinata spills the words quickly – almost too quickly – and Kageyama doesn’t really question it, not with the way the young man has started staring at him; simply gestures for him to continue. “Prawns?” The customer questions with a downward quirk of his lips. “Yeah, I’ll get those. Just a handful is fine.”

“The cooked ones?”

“Mhm, whatever,” Hinata’s already reaching for his wallet, seeming completely out of it.

“Figures,” Kageyama mutters as he scoops the things up anyway. He lets his thoughts spill out of his mouth without filter, figuring that Hinata's not even listening. “They match you. Small and cute and all that. Same color, too.”

When he next looks up though, Hinata is frozen, so Kageyama looks down at the prawns and back up at him, and asks cautiously, “Is something wrong?”

He can hear Yamaguchi laughing quietly, and he doesn’t know why, but it pisses him off just a little more than usual.

“No, nothing, nothing at all!” Hinata slams some bills onto the glass, starting away before they can exchange another word. Leaving Kageyama shocked, hands full of prawns, until he remembers where he is. He stuffs them into a bag in record time and gives chase.

“Oi, dumbass!” He yells after Hinata’s retreating form, “You forgot your prawns!”

“Oh my god, why are you following me?!”

“I just told you why!”

“Please don’t throw those at me!”

“Why would I do that?!”

Hinata slows, wary of him, as he waits for Kageyama to catch up.

“Thanks…” he says, finally registering the situation at hand as he takes his purchase with gentle fingers. He doesn't seem to know what to do with the crustaceans, and Kageyama idly wonders if Hinata has ever even touched a prawn before. The redhead looks at him again, that foreign emotion crossing his features as he asks, “Say, Kageyama, do you really think I’m cute?”

Kageyama sputters, trying to pinpoint when exactly Hinata came up with that assumption, but apparently that’s enough of an answer because the other laughs and goes, “Forget it.”

“It’s not a bad thing,” Kageyama settles with mumbling, digging himself into a deeper hole. “Being … uh, cute, I mean. It’s… yeah.”

When Hinata grins that time, Kageyama wonders why it feels like sunshine.

* * *

 The first time anything really changes in his mind is when Kageyama has to cover last-minute for his co-worker Oikawa; the supermarket’s poster-boy, grand king of convincing people to buy entirely useless items, exceedingly talented at handing out freebies without inciting Sugawara’s wrath and whatever the hell it was that Oikawa did that made their store so popular.

Kageyama’s setting up his ‘free samples’ stand when he sees that familiar sunshine grin return full-force, but he ignores it in favor of stabbing sausage slices with a toothpick each, taking out his frustration on the poor bits of meat before him.

The bits of meat Hinata is taking off the plate. Kageyama stops, noting that no, he is not seeing things, he is just running out of sausages and toothpicks because _somebody_ keeps taking them.

“You can’t take them _all_ , dumbass!” He yells with his hands out, shielding the plate from any further thievery. Apparently that, coupled with what must be a scary look on his face, is enough to send Hinata running.

“Hey!” The moron shouts over his shoulder, “Free stuff is free stuff!”

“Still doesn’t mean you can do that! Come back here, you idiot!”

He’s already too far to catch now, especially while Kageyama has an actual task to perform, so he leaves it, vowing to get him back later. He absolutely doesn’t think about the way Hinata leaned forward on the stand, stealing slices right under his nose, and how the sunlight from outside had framed his features just so – illuminating the smooth curve of his cheeks and the slimness of his neck, reaching down to meet surprisingly defined collar bones –

“Kageyama,” Suga breaks through his monologue, with something akin to a sigh. “We need to talk.”

That’s when the first thing starts to change.

“I have no problem with your boyfriend visiting you at work,” the manager’s expression grows stern. “But you still have to maintain a degree of professionalism, do you understand?”

“B-boyfriend?” Kageyama chokes, barely comprehending the words. “He’s, he’s not my – we’re not – he’s not my boyfriend.”

Suga only blinks. “You know I have no issue with you being gay, right? I’m just saying to keep your flirting to a minimum in the work place, that’s all.”

“N-no, it’s not like that,” Kageyama gestures wildly, eyebrows knitting and face flushing red, “We’re not together! He’s not my boyfriend – I swear!”

His manager stares – like, actually stares – at him for what feels like the longest time.

“Oh.” Suga finally says, a slight embarrassed flush rising in his cheeks. “Um. Sorry for assuming, then.”

“It’s okay.” Kageyama just about squeaks, his own complexion ablaze for reasons utterly unbeknownst to him. “Just a misunderstanding.”

“Yeah, a misunderstanding.” Suga repeats carefully. “Right. But the same deal applies, alright? Stay professional.”

“Got it.”

“A misunderstanding…?” He hears Suga mutter disbelievingly under his breath as he walks away, but Kageyama’s stuck too far in denial-land to be able to call him out on it.

* * *

 Suga’s words echo in his mind the next time he sees the bane of his existence – and sort-of half friend rival thing – walk through the door. Do they act like they’re dating? Do they seem like they’d date at all? Would he date Hinata? What was Hinata to him, anyway? Hmm…

Speaking of Hinata, the redhead is especially exuberant today, volleyball tucked under his arm as he skips his way through the fresh produce section.

Kageyama is too busy, however, to deal with him. Due to his recent rise of conflicting emotions though, he thinks that it’s all for the better. Good luck is finally on his side.

Lucky for Hinata too, he doesn’t have to solely seek Kageyama out when he visits the store anymore, because most of the staff know him well enough to keep him entertained even while Kageyama is busy. Just last week, he seems to have befriended Yamaguchi (a full-time employee now, though still a little on the clumsy side), and bounds straight up to him first thing.

Kageyama is not jealous, of course. He has no reason to be. None at all. Absolutely not.  

He doesn’t watch them out of the corner of his eye, doesn’t see Yamaguchi prod at the volleyball and Hinata’s face light up when he finds out that the other, too, plays the sport. Like every other employee in this whole damn store. Now that Kageyama thinks about it, that’s really weird. How come every person hired here is a volleyball player in some way, shape or form?

Even Suga himself, who’s a setter … and Oikawa, who’s also a setter… and that one kid that does nothing but play video games and watch the bread ovens … setter.  Yamaguchi, however, is not a setter. And neither is that girl, Michimiya, who’s a wing spiker. But Kageyama digresses.

He takes orders with practiced ease, trying not to think too hard about things that don’t affect him.

It just so happens that luck was not on his side today, at all.

Rather unexpectedly, his first sign that something is wrong is when Suga is walking briskly through the aisles and right at him, determination written all over his face. Three figures loiter at the entrance of the supermarket, and they seem to be the source of his manager’s sudden worry.

“Surprise inspection,” Suga mutters, immediately straightening as he sees the three men approaching, patting Kageyama on the back (he’s been through this once before) and dashing off to warn the others; mostly Yamaguchi, who was new, and Oikawa, who liked to cause trouble.

A surprise inspection just means that everything has to be presented cleanly and service efficient, so he isn’t worried. As a person that liked to put 100% into all his tasks, Kageyama already kept the standard high on a daily basis. He doesn’t have to worry about anything.

“Hey Kageyama!” A hurling force flies into his back, identifying itself by sound alone to be Hinata Shouyou.

_Except that._ Kageyama thinks with a grimace. He has to worry about that.

“Not too loud,” he says. “An inspection’s going on.”

“Inspection?” Hinata tips his head to the side, confused. “What are they inspecting?”

“Just the general inspection,” one of the men explain, as they move to stand outside the seafood cabinet. The eldest one, older by a large margin, sticks his nose into the air and walks off, muttering something about, “seeing that not a hair is out of place.”

The two left behind send a fake grin his way, before looking back at Hinata and Kageyama.  

Oh, and Suga.

Kageyama has no clue how he does it, but he swears Suga has the ability to teleport. He’s always in the right places at the right times. Always. He’s all the more glad for it though, because it means he can keep his social ineptness to himself, and let the ever-charming manager handle the inspectors without batting an eyelash.

“Hello!” Suga chirps, as if he had been there from the start. “I’m the manager of this establishment. How may I help you?”

“I’m Sawamura Daichi, and this is Iwaizumi Hajime.” One of the inspector introduces, pointing to himself then to his companion before his voice lowers, “And the man with us before is the company head. Just refer to him as the ‘dean’. He demands absolute respect.”

“Wow, important guy,” Suga whistles lowly, ushering for Kageyama to get back to work. “We really don’t want to mess with him, huh, Sawamura?”

“Call me Daichi.” He grins, “And yeah. It’s best not to get on his bad side.”  

“Every side is his bad side,” Iwaizumi grumbles, crossing his arms over his chest.

“That’s true,” Daichi agrees, an amused smile playing on his lips. “But we do what we can.”

“That’s the best way,” Suga nods. “So what are you looking for in particular? Do you have a checklist or something? I'm here to make it as easy for you as possible, so don't hesitate to ask me questions, okay?”

The conversation continues as Kageyama slips away, dragging an intrigued Hinata with him. He makes it successfully back to his post behind the counter – ensuring Hinata, the customer, stays on the other side, of course – and watches as Suga leads the two gentlemen away, talking proudly of the regular old supermarket as if it were his own child.

Unfortunately, in the act of watching them, Kageyama completely forgot to watch Hinata, who has vanished the moment he turns back around. He looks immediately over to Yamaguchi, standing meekly under the long, crawling order of a disinterested customer that sounds _distinctly_ unlike seafood, and sighs. No help there.

Of course, he can’t have gone far, so Kageyama figures he’ll just sit by the counter and wait, serving as many people as he can while he definitely does not worry about his friend.

Wrong option.

He doesn’t know the details, but one moment Kageyama is weighing a bag of fish sticks, and the next moment Hinata is back, Yamaguchi is frantic and the floor is beginning to flood. The hose sticking out of the sink is spitting like wildfire. There are frozen fish on the floor. Kageyama suddenly hates responsibility. And life.

“What the hell?” He snaps, livid. Hinata cowers, hands over his head.

“I didn’t mean to!” He cries.

At the same time, Yamaguchi exclaims, “It’s my fault, I’m sorry!”

And Kageyama, not knowing who to blame, just mentally blames both of them. “I don’t care who did it! Or what happened! How are we going to clean this up?!”

Yamaguchi shrugs helplessly, eyes wide, “Get Suga?” He suggests, which is usually the best solution. When, you know. Suga wasn’t occupied.

Nevertheless, Kageyama, having no time to think, hands Hinata a mop and Yamaguchi an entire box of sponges and sprints off to find their manager anyway. “Dry. Everything.” He orders them just before he goes. “Every. Thing.”

For once, Kageyama can fully appreciate Suga’s unique hair color, when he easily spots the man among the rows of cheese near the entrance, still engaged in deep conversation.

“Suga, something’s – oh, hello again,” Kageyama bows in greeting to the inspector, approaching Suga from behind, who immediately sensed that something was up. Daichi waves at the employee, oblivious, and Kageyama tries his best to half-smile, hoping that it was acceptable.

“Kageyama, can you check on the salad fridge and restock it if it’s empty, and say, I’ve been meaning to ask, Daichi, where’s Iwaizumi gone off to?” Suga asks daintily, all in one breath, hand behind his back gesturing for Kageyama to _run_.

“Fix it yourself,” scolds his inner Suga. “If it can be broken, then it can be fixed, can’t it? You’ll figure it out.” Kageyama is so close to just telling him to help _right now_. He’s bad with dealing with problems, and he just wants to be able to do his job correctly. Suga hurries him again, gesturing with more force. The more time you have to waste, the more time you have to think of a solution. Right.  

Daichi rolls his eyes, distracted, unaware of Kageyama’s inner turmoil and focusing on answering Suga’s question instead. “Said something about whipping your employee Oikawa into shape. You know how it is. He’s making a commotion out there. Forgive me for being forward, but it’s a miracle he still works here, honestly.”

“Oikawa’s just advertising if anything,” Suga laughs. “He’s good publicity. We need that.”  

“Oh, that makes more sense.”

Their conversation fades as Kageyama does, in fact, run, and try and figure out how the hell he is going to fix the mess, hoping at least most of the damage had been taken care of by the two he left behind.

Not likely. Somehow, upon his return, Hinata is now soaked from head to toe and Yamaguchi has coerced another customer into helping mop the floors. Not a good look.  

“What are you guys doing?!” He demands as quietly as he can. Yamaguchi jumps, grabs the mop from the stranger’s hands, and nods his thanks, shooing the person away before Kageyama can get him. Hinata just rolls his volleyball dejectedly in the water, which reaches up to his ankles now. He looks guilty enough that Kageyama wants to rush up to him and console him, but he cannot. Will not. Not when he was half to blame.

They at least had the sense to close off the area, shutting the door so it was only flooded behind the counter and not outside. Kageyama grimaced as he climbed over the stainless steel bench and into the water, ignoring the stares of people around him. Those customers would survive. If anything, they had a story to tell. 

“Get the biggest vacuum you can find,” he tells Yamaguchi, who obeys with a nervous nod. “And you,” he eyes Hinata, who looks up through dripping lashes. He’s still soaked, and try as he might, he can’t hide the fact that he’s shivering, too. He tries to hold back a sneeze, but alas, it is no use. Kageyama, surprising even himself, takes pity on him. “You… go to the staff room. Get changed, we have spare uniforms in the end closet. Don’t need you catching a cold or anything.”

“Okay,” Hinata breathes, clearly not expecting such an easy get-away. His expression screams gratitude, and he starts picking at his outer layers already, so that they don't stick to his skin.

“You’re coming back to help though,” Kageyama states firmly, trying not to stare, and the other nods with a mixture of fear and enthusiasm.

“Yeah,” the redhead affirms. “Yeah… I am.”

While Hinata goes, Yamaguchi returns, and with the driest look he can muster, tells Kageyama that the vacuum is not going to work. It’s a hand vacuum. It’s going to die. Kageyama urges him to try it, just in case. No luck. It’s a downright shame. It does a great dishonor to all vacuums. He tosses it into the trash.

Hinata comes back. He looks cute in uniform. Shut up, Kageyama, that isn’t helping.

They’re a team of three, making the best work they can of the flooded area, when they’re finally caught. By the ‘dean’ no less, who caws like a bird, alerting Suga and Daichi. The two come running, and Suga sends Kageyama an astonished look upon seeing the company head unleash what can only be described as torrents of water as he opens the (deliberately closed) door.

“Disgraceful,” he utters.  

“Oh dear,” Suga articulates. “Is anyone hurt?”

“No, sir,” Kageyama informs him stiffly. Suga’s eyes dart towards Hinata, clad in employee’s uniform, and thankfully doesn’t ask questions.

“It seems there’s been a slight situational issue,” the manager improvises. “We’ve been meaning to get a plumber to look at it, but I figured it would survive a few more weeks. Guess not!”

His attempt to lighten the atmosphere is lost, however, when the ‘dean’ steps nonchalantly into the space behind the seafood counter, to trip headfirst over Hinata’s volleyball. Kageyama visibly flinches, and Hinata hides behind him. Suga is decidedly unimpressed, opting to herd Yamaguchi out of the way before he’s caught up in the upcoming explosion. Daichi sucks in a breath.

“Who did this?” The dean booms, murderous, eyes like a hawk. As he’s getting to his feet, his hair slips clean off his head (it’s a wig, a horrified Kageyama would eventually figure out, and no, some mysterious supernatural force did not shave the man’s head), and that’s the moment when Kageyama thinks that hell will go down.

Daichi is internally screaming, it’s written all over his face.

“Who… did this?!” The company head repeats, outraged and attracting a crowd, even as he’s pulling his hair back onto his head.  

Hinata opens and shuts his mouth, on the verge of either laughing or crying, whilst Yamaguchi has his eyes trained on the ground. In the distance, they can hear the telltale shout of Oikawa whining, but it serves no purpose other than to irritate Kageyama, so he does his best to ignore it.  

“Sawamura,” the dean calls, and the man in question nods at him respectfully, though he still looks mildly alarmed. “I want you to deal with this. This is unacceptable, you must be well aware.”

“Yes sir,” Daichi responds, “I’ll take care of it.”

The elder stalks off, huffing with distaste and pure fury, but before anyone can relax, Daichi’s careful gaze returns to the group. He's fuming, but he's controlling it so well it's admirable. Kageyama takes a cautious step back anyway.

“So, truthfully, flooding aside, whose ball is that?” He asks, eyebrows furrowed. Suga, who stands beside him, gives his employees a hopeless shrug, conveying that it was out of his hands now. At the silence that greets him, Daichi adds, “I’m not going to murder anyone, don’t look so scared. It’s just a hazard that needs to be accounted for.”

Yamaguchi, apparently ready to take the fall, hesitantly commences, “Actually I –” but doesn’t get to finish before he is interrupted.

“It’s mine,” Kageyama says, oddly protective of his protégé (and to some extent, Hinata, as well). Yamaguchi looks stricken, Hinata surprised, but neither say a word as Suga glances over at Daichi, who frowns. His arms are crossed over his chest, badge glinting dangerously in the bright light. He clearly doesn’t believe it, but he also doesn’t look like he honestly cares enough to press the issue. He also doesn’t seem to have gotten over the incident with the dean’s wig.  

“I’ll let you off this time with a clear warning.” Daichi sighs eventually, and Kageyama releases a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “But only because I’ve heard good things about you from Suga, and I’m not about to rob him of a perfectly well-earned employee.”

Suga smiles then, winking at Kageyama over Daichi’s shoulder, and it’s not for the first time that the raven-haired blesses the universe for the existence of Sugawara Koushi.

* * *

 During the week, Kageyama finally figures it out.

He figures out that the flying hair scenario is courtesy of the hair actually being a wig.

But that’s not all he figures out.

He figures out something deep. Something big. Something people like to frame with roses and chocolate, and smack a massive sticker on, reading ‘love’.

And now he thinks that he needs a manual, hand-written, fittingly titled “what to do when you think you’re in love with an actual idiot”. A certain idiot, to be precise. Hinata Shouyou, to be precise.

He wasn’t kidding when he said that there was one customer that ruined everything. Kageyama’s never felt so many goddamn emotions at once.

Believe it or not, it’s time away from Hinata that makes him figure it out in the end, and as a week full of firsts, it’s also the first time Kageyama looks forward to Hinata’s weekend visit.

_If he visits at all,_ whispers a voice at the back of his mind.  

_But Hinata left his volleyball here, and he would surely come back for it,_ he assures himself in turn.

* * *

 There was nothing all of Saturday, and Sunday morning was no different. It’s Sunday afternoon, near the end of his shift, when the anticipation simply wears down, and Kageyama’s almost given up until its quiet enough for him to listen to the soft chatter within the store.

This time Hinata visits, he’s heard before he is seen; that telltale humming alerting Kageyama to his presence and immediately putting him on guard.

Kageyama looks up, sees him, glares, and opens his mouth to say something – probably rude, but with good reason. One more incident like the last, and he’d have to find a new way to earn a living. And it’s all this asshole’s fault. This really cute asshole that makes his heart skip one too many beats, and make him feel like a goddamn wreck, and also the asshole he recently realized that he was in love with, yeah, it’s all his fault.

“I come in peace,” Hinata says before a brawl can begin, hands raised up in a gesture of surrender. “I think we uh, left off pretty bad last week.”

“Damn straight we did,” Kageyama mumbles, but for once, doesn’t attack him. He’s intrigued – curious about what brought on this change of heart. Wondering if this means that Hinata will finally leave him the hell alone.

“I wanted to say sorry.” The redhead states, rubbing the back of his neck with a sheepish smile.

“Okay.”

“… that’s it?”

“Yeah?” Kageyama pats down his apron, checking the time. He's almost off, and it would come as a relief to get these darn sweaty clothes off. “Anything else?”

“Um, you’re not mad at me?”

“If I was going to be mad at you, I’d have been mad at you ages ago. Which I was. You’ve done plenty already.”

“Oh, yeah? Like what?” Hinata has the gall to be petulant, standing up to his full height (not very tall, considering), and placing his hands on his hips. “What have I done?”

“Remember riding on a trolley to piss me off? That very first time?” He walks around, trudging through the door to address Hinata directly, and also to shorten the distance between himself and freedom. He'd have to come back to work tomorrow anyway, and he'd do the final cleanup after he at least changes out of the uniform. 

“I didn’t do it to piss you off!” Hinata balks, then flails, arms waving.

“Why’d you do it then?”

“Uh, well I, um,” he stammers, “I did it for fun?”

Kageyama narrows his eyes. “Is that a question or an answer?” 

“I just wanted to get your attention,” Hinata says, so quietly that if Kageyama had not been listening close, he would not have heard it.

“What?” He asks anyway.

“What do you mean ‘what’?” The redhead bites out, a deep flush crawling up his neck and staining his ears pink. “You heard me! I’m not saying it again!”

“That doesn’t make any sense!” Kageyama argues, “What do you mean you ‘wanted to get my attention’?”

“Oh my god, don’t be so loud! Someone could hear you!”

“Why do you care? You’re _always_ loud!” Despite the claim, he has enough sense to know that it makes Hinata uncomfortable, so he leads the redhead into the staff room, where they can butt heads as loudly as they want. Or at least, without being in the public eye.

“Shut up, that’s different!” Hinata puts his face in his hands now, evidently trying to hide his embarrassment. “I’m not gonna spell it out for you, just because you’re stupid, you know.”

“Who’re you calling stupid?!”   

“You! You, because I’ve been trying to get your attention for months! And I thought I was making progress because you called me cute that one time, but apparently not! Apparently that didn’t mean anything and apparently I got my hopes up for nothing!”

“What are you even talking about?!”

“I like you, you idiot!” Hinata yells, hands leaving his face to punch Kageyama in the arm. It only stings a little. The rest of him is burning, burning bright, because this is exactly what Kageyama wanted but in no way was he prepared at all.

“You… your… I…” He shuffled his feet, unsure how to phrase his feelings without making an even bigger mess out of the whole situation. Hinata’s not looking at him, face red as he fumbles with the loose threads on his sweater.   

Completely on a whim, Kageyama takes those hands in his own, and brings them to his face.

“H-hinata,” he starts. “I, uh, same.”

Hinata squints. “… what?”

“Me. You. I.” Flustered, he purses his lips trying to string the words together. “To you, I. Also. I’m the same.”

Hinata is still squinting up at him, when the puzzle pieces finally click, and he leans up, on his tip-toes so that their noses touch. It makes Kageyama feel all warm and fuzzy inside, so he freaks out a little, wondering if he was catching something. That would be inconvenient. Hinata presses even closer.

“Hey, idiot,” he starts, fingers curling around Kageyama’s cheeks. “Can I kiss you?”

Utterly defeated by the very thought, Kageyama only nods, hoping his nerves don’t show through.

And so they kiss.

… kind of.

As smooth as Hinata is trying to be (or whatever one called that behaviour), he clearly has no idea what he is doing as he knocks their teeth together and falls back with a hiss. “Sorry, did I bite you?” He asks, clearly panicking. “I’m sorry, oh my god.”

“Take two,” Kageyama replies, shaking his head. “Try again.”

He does. Shy but determined, Hinata pulls him down this time, by the straps of his apron.  

This time, they kiss properly, Kageyama taking the lead like he already knew how to, and as they’re kissing soft and slow, Hinata eagerly wraps his arms around his neck, urging him to deepen the contact, making every moment count. Their lips move together, the heat between them on the brink of becoming an inferno, touch greedy but not consuming, embrace tight but not constricting.

They part for air only because they have to, and Hinata looks at him with eyes of scalding magma, beautiful as the sunset, mouth parted slightly, and working languidly as he confesses, “I’ve been wanting to do that for so long. This isn’t a dream anymore, right?”

“It’s not,” Kageyama answers, taking him in again, guiding him with inexperienced hands but a kiss with no hesitation – where words failed, he could always use his actions; actions like these. Hinata had set his feelings free. “It’s not a dream.”    

Kageyama’s not sure how long they’ve been in there, too consumed in the thought that he somehow just _ended up_ making out with Hinata and feeling on top of the world, when a noise from the doorway has them springing apart. They’re a little late though, dazed as they are, because the damage has already been done.

“Sorry, sorry, oh my god,” Yamaguchi squeaks, already backing out the door. “I didn’t see anything, and I won’t tell Suga what you were doing in the staff room, nope, I’m out, goodbye! Have a nice day!”

He’s gone before they can even utter a word. Kageyama thinks idly that he probably needs to buy Yamaguchi an apology gift, but his attention is soon stolen by Hinata again, as it was wont to do.

The usually sunny boy is mortified. He buries his face in Kageyama’s chest and groans. “I cannot believe this…”  

“It was your idea,” Kageyama accuses. “I’m still at work, you know.”

Hinata groans again, this time louder. “But you look so good in uniform, I just…”

Against his will, he blushes bright red. He’s never been good at receiving compliments. “… Hinata, don’t you dare start this. I’m leaving. I have dead fish to clean. Then I'm going home.”

“Holy hell, you’re _ruining_ the moment.”

Still flushed, he simply offers, “I’ll make it up to you later, then.”

“Really? Promise?”

There’s that mischievous twinkle in Hinata’s eyes that somewhere along the line went from irritating to endearing. Kageyama doesn’t know what to make of it, but he supposes if he wants to get back to work any time soon, he’ll have to agree to whatever Hinata has in store for later.

“I promise.”

“Good.” Hinata grins, expression bright and playful, and Kageyama thinks he might know what it feels like to start falling in love all over again. “You better.”

* * *

 If he’d seen where he’d be three months ago, Kageyama thinks that he might not have been so harsh on that customer that came every weekend to ruin everything. (Or, he might have been harsher, worn out from disbelief that they’d ever get together like this.)

So there’s nothing more he can say, when reality shows him just how quickly things can change.

Yes, Kageyama Tobio, entirely clueless in the scheme of romance, really cannot complain. At the very least, he fell in love with sunshine smiles and sunset eyes at the supermarket, and a thrill that only comes from a story too good to be true. But here he is, with Hinata in his arms, and not a complaint in the world about their relationship blooming steadily forward.

It’s fast. It’s lively. It’s exactly what he signed up for.

**Author's Note:**

> have a nice day!


End file.
